The Last Policeman wins 2013 Edgar Award for best paperback original

The Last Policeman is the first in a trilogy of pre-apocalyptic police procedurals and this is what I thought of it: "The Last Policeman makes for compelling reading, there is a pleasant feel of detective noir infused into proceedings and I struggle to remember many investigators sporting moustaches in the times between Magnum PI and Hank Palace. Winters instils his book with a grand sense of melancholy and his characters display the sadness and defeatism one would expect under the circumstances. I felt richer for reading this intriguing mix of murder mystery and dystopia and highly recommend The Last Policeman to fans of either genre."

The book is set six months prior to an asteroid’s impact, the economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job – but not Detective Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week – except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.

Congratulations to Ben and all involved in the book’s publication! Countdown City, the sequel to The Last Policeman, will be released on July 16, 2013 and I am extremely lucky to have an advanced review copy already, which I will be reading and reviewing very soon.